A Hobbit's Tale

So one thing you may or may not know about me is that I love The Hobbit. It's one of my all-time favorite books by one of my favorite authors, J.R.R. Tolkien. With the movies coming out, there has been a plethora of Hobbit merchandise to come out; almost all of which I adore and want. Since I am a teacher and encourage my students to read often and read well, some of them know that I love The Hobbit. One such student was kind and thoughtful enough to give me several Hobbit-related gifts this Christmas.

Among the things this student gave to me was a Hobbit-themed journal. I was especially excited about this! I've attached a collage so you can see how awesome it is...

Yeah, it rocks. 

So in addition to all of the Hobbit paraphernalia, I am also re-reading The Hobbit for the fourth or fifth time. In reading it again, I began to identify pretty quickly with Bilbo and how he feels. It WOULD be rather uncomfortable to have a bunch of unannounced strangers in your house, all of which expect you to feed them and find them a place to meet and sleep. And to have them assume you are a burglar! The audacity! 

And similarly to Bilbo, I am attempting to embark upon an adventure for the year. 

Over the past year, I have realized just how unhappy I truly am with my life. Nothing on the outside, mind you. I love my family and friends and pets. I love my husband dearly. I also love my job. But I have had health issues for the past several years that have (hopefully) been resolved this past summer. I am feeling better, but not feeling as well as I think I should be.  

I am on an adventure to find JOY this year. And in that adventure, I plan to encounter many things that will cause me to be uncomfortable and unsettled. In fact, Bilbo said it best when he said, "We are plain quiet folk and I have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can't think what anybody sees in them" (Tolkien 13-14). 

I can see Bilbo's point. Adventures are uncomfortable. They take you out of your comfort-zone and make you do things you don't normally do. They can also be disturbing in that you may learn things during an adventure that are difficult to believe or understand about your world or even yourself. And nasty... well they can make you dirty. Tracking mud into the house is always a nasty business. 

But I also don't have JOY sitting here in my nice, warm hobbit-hole of a home. Trust me; I've looked. 

Which leads me to look outside my door and into the green hills and blue skies outside. There will be rain and dirt and cold, sure. But perhaps I will also find what I am looking for. 

And if there's a chance of finding the JOY I am missing, I am willing to leave my own Bag End to go and search for it. 

Join me as I attempt to try things I don't normally try, change my thoughts and approaches to things, and chase after the JOY that my heart and soul have been missing. Hopefully by the end of the year, I will be there and back with JOY in hand and you, dear reader, at my side.